D.A. Davidson & CO. Raises Holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)

D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) by 6.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,850 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 864 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Block were worth $930,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SouthState Corp lifted its holdings in Block by 85.3% in the 3rd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 391 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Block during the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Block in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in Block by 85.3% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 741 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Price Performance

SQ stock opened at $88.55 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $76.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.70. Block, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.00 and a 52-week high of $94.12. The company has a market capitalization of $54.88 billion, a PE ratio of 49.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.48. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Insider Transactions at Block

In related news, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,964 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $237,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,088,560. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 8,328 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.18, for a total value of $759,347.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 563,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,415,854.92. This represents a 1.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,053 shares of company stock valued at $2,393,972. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SQ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Block from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Block from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Block from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $94.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Block from $100.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.46.

About Block

Square, Inc provides payment and point-of-sale solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's commerce ecosystem includes point-of-sale software and hardware that enables sellers to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV® chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Chip card reader, which accepts EMV® chip cards and enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; and Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology, as well as managed payments solutions.